Fantasy Baseball Prospects

The title pretty much says it all, so instead of a big intro this opening paragraph will link you to some more helpful information regarding prospects. Here are the Top 30 prospects for 2015 redraft leagues. Here are the American League and National League Top 10 prospect indexes. We also have the Top 20 2014 signees for first-year player drafts in dynasty formats. Last but not least, here are my Top 100 keeper rankings. In the prospect rankings below, more specific ETAs are given as well as links to the organizational top ten list for each player. Just click on the team abbreviation to view my comments on individual prospects. Only two-thirds of the teams are written up, so apologies if not all of the links are live just yet. Ages listed are as of Opening Day 2015. Here are the Top 50 prospects for 2015 fantasy baseball…

The GistThis is a strong farm system that boasts both talent up the middle and arms to bolster a young rotation headlined by Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler, and Jacob deGrom. Noah Syndergaard and Travis d’Arnaud were acquired in the R.A. Dickey trade, and with Syndergaard arriving sometime this summer, Mets fans will finally see the fruits of that trade at Citi Field. Dilson Herrera should also stick in the majors at some point this season. One of 2014’s pleasant surprises was the recently graduated deGrom, who will look to build on a 2014 rookie campaign in which he posted a 2.69 ERA with 144 strikeouts in 140 innings pitched. After a demotion to Triple-A early in the year, Travis d’Arnaud also posted good numbers with 13 homers in 421 plate appearances.

The GistThe Rockies are a great system to turn to for big upside fantasy prospects. The fact that a few of these guys will one day call Coors Field their home park only adds to the appeal. If you haven’t bought in already, this might be a good time with several of the top hitters in this system expected to see at bats in the hitting-friendly California League this summer. The same can’t be said for the pitchers in this system, who take a large hit on this fantasy list compared to traditional prospect rankings thanks to the same park situation. Eddie Butler, who made his big league debut in 2014, fell off the list entirely thanks to a shoulder injury. The Rockies will see three new affiliations in 2015 – Albuquerque (AAA), New Britain (AA) and Boise (ss).

The GistThe Orioles’ farm is headlined by two solid pitching prospects, although both have dealt with elbow injuries of late. Dylan Bundy may see MLB time later this year along with hitting prospects Christian Walker and Dariel Alvarez. The top half of this farm is pretty solid from a fantasy standpoint, and the Orioles already have nice young talent at the major league level in Manny Machado, Kevin Gausman, and Jonathan Schoop. Gausman was a good arm to own in the second half of 2014 after yo-yoing in the first, and may take a major step forward this year. Meanwhile, Schoop popped 16 homers in his rookie campaign. Machado is still just 22 years old and obviously has massive potential. With a bounce back from Chris Davis, this could be a very nasty offense in 2015.

The GistThe Yankees had major contributions from two rookie arms in 2014. When healthy, Masahiro Tanaka was dominant – posting a 2.77 ERA with 141 strikeouts in 136.1 innings pitched. An elbow injury ended his season prematurely, and while he never succumbed to Tommy John surgery, the health of that elbow is a big question mark heading into 2015. Meanwhile, Dellin Betances was a force in the bullpen where he racked up 135 strikeouts in 90 innings. The Yankees were major players on the international market this past July with ten of Baseball America’s top 30 J2 signees going to New York. They are also in the running for Cuban phenom Yoan Moncada, who is expected to sign with a team later this month.

The GistThis system is stacked at the top with arguably three of the best prospects in baseball and it only got stronger in the draft when the Dodgers selected one of the best prep arms available with their first-round pick. Already loaded with young stars like Yasiel Puig and Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers will see their top three prospects reach the majors in the next year or two. I know it sounds like I have my hyperbole machine turned on, but it really is a nice top-heavy system for fantasy prospects. The Dodgers were part of this year’s affiliation shuffle in the upper levels of the minors and now call Oklahoma City and Tulsa their homes in Triple-A and Double-A respectively.

This post will attempt to identify thirty prospects with the most value for 2015 only. These are players with less than 130 at bats or 50 innings pitched at the major league level, but who are expected to arrive in the bigs at some point this season. Typically, we’d rank prospects overall on one big list, but I’ve broken the list up into three groups to try to make it easier for fantasy players in 2015 redraft leagues. The prospects are ranked within groups that are based on the projected ETAs (early/mid/late). While they are still just projections, the groups should help sort through who you need to be drafting versus who you need to be picking up off waivers and when. There are a few general comments after each group and, like any list, there are a few names on the cusp that didn’t make it. We can tackle them in the comments if we need to. Here are the top 30 prospects for 2015 redraft leagues…

Is there a football game on today? Before the pre-pre-pre-game shows begin, let’s chat some more about fantasy baseball prospects. A few weeks ago we started the conversation, and this week I’d like to finish it before we head into the second half of the minor league previews. Top 100 lists have already started to roll out, keeper rosters are getting trimmed up, and first-year player drafts are just around the corner in dynasty leagues. For a look at the prospects we’ve covered to this point, check out the fantasy prospect indexes. You’ll find links to the organizational previews as well as each team’s top ten. Here’s the index for the American League. Here’s the index for the National League. Here’s my Top 20 2014 signees. Here’s Adrian Rondon after he saw that Top 20. There are many factors to keep in mind when putting together a farm in fantasy. Here are just a few of them…

The GistToronto saw the rise of both Marcus Stroman and Dalton Pompey in 2014, and both are going to be factors in 2015 fantasy leagues. In addition to Stroman, the Jays have two stud pitching prospects on the farm in Daniel Norris and Aaron Sanchez. Both have already seen time in the major leagues and should be on the radar for 2015 as well. This was a fun system to write up, since it has intriguing fantasy prospects from top to bottom. The major league club got a big boost when it acquired Josh Donaldson from the Athletics for three prospects, including shortstop Franklin Barreto. Barreto would have been an easy top five in this system, but Donaldson should be a fantasy beast in that lineup at the Rogers Centre.

The GistThe Diamondbacks made a splash this offseason with the signing of Cuban outfielder Yasmany Tomas, who immediately becomes their best fantasy prospect. Apparently they weren’t finished though, recently signing Cuban right-hander Yoan Lopez. This system has five legitimate pitching prospects, three of which are close to contributing at the major league level. Despite the hitter-friendly home park, these arms have solid fantasy upside thanks to their strikeout potential. Recently graduated prospect Chris Owings will now man shortstop on an everyday basis. His combination of power and speed make him an interesting late round target in 2015 drafts. And while we’re here…don’t forget about Randall Delgado, who is currently slated for long relief but could run with another opportunity in a rotation.